Saturday, June 10, 2006

Glove or Guitar?

Little Man went with me to pick up my Fender Jazzmaster from the repairman today. Turns out the repairman had seen me play at the 8 o'Clock Service in the mid-90s. Small world. While we were in his shop, Little Man spied a small, half-scale Mosrite guitar on the wall that must have been recently repaired. He gets this big grin on his face and asks, "Do you think I want that?" That was his shy way of saying he wanted it -- real bad.

We walked next door to Musician's purgatory, otherwise known as Guitar Center, because I wanted to check out the M-box2. Eventually, we found our way to the guitar section and he checked out a few. He was so excited, like a kid in a...well, you know. I found a black Fender Squire Stratocaster on the wall that was a reduced scale, which seemed to fit him pretty well. It was only $99. I also noticed a tiny Vox amp for like $69. I really wanted to get it for him, but didn't pull the trigger.

Earlier this week he asked if I could get him a new baseball glove and a bat. I told him that, as a reward for doing well in Kindergarten, I would consider getting him those things at the end of the school year, which is this Thursday. The glove/bat would be a cool gift--and a lot cheaper. The guitar would be soooo cool, too. But, in addition to being more pricey, I wonder if he'll have the stick-to-it-ive-ness necessary to practice hard and improve to the point where he enjoys it. I know he loves to rock and digs music. But, I'd hate it if he got discouraged at this young age and never gave it another shot.

So, the question I am pondering is..."Glove or Guitar?"

1 comment:

Myke said...

I say guitar, but of course I'm biased (and I no longer live there, so I don't have to worry about the volume). Of course, you could encourage him to save up and buy the glove himself, and he could perhaps try to play music with a glove on, a la Michael Jackson. "Ow!"